Steve Jackson Games’ eponymous CEO steps down to focus on designing new games
Sabrina Gonzales takes his place, while Allison Page is promoted to chief operating officer
Steve Jackson, the creator of GURPS, Munchkin, and several other tabletop games is stepping down as CEO of Austin, Texas-based Steve Jackson Games (SJG). A press release from SJG states that Jackson is ending his 46-year run at the head of the company “to focus on game design and development.” Sabrina Gonzalez, a long time staff member of SJG will replace him as CEO.
Jackson founded SJG in 1980 after working for several years at board game publisher Metagaming. His fingerprint on tabletop RPGs is most evident in 1983’s Generic Universal Role Playing System, a genreless engine technically in its fourth edition that’s enjoyed constant tinkering by Jackson and line editor Sean Punch ever since. Other popular SJG titles include party games Munchkin and Zombie Dice, as well as science fiction wargame Ogre.
Gonzales began working for SJG in 2013 and has held several roles within the company, including both production manager and artist. She has also served on the board of directors since 2021. “We have a ton of great people who are veterans in what they do best, and I'm eager to see what the future holds,” Gonzales said in a press release. Managing editor Allison Page will also be promoted to SJG’s chief operating officer.
She reportedly plans to simultaneously support SJG’s back catalog of classic games while continuing to both create and publish titles that court new audiences to the venerable company. That initiative started when SJG signed a deal with Possum Creek Games to publish and sell its portfolio of RPGs, which includes Wanderhome and Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, along with bringing Jay Dragon and Ruby Lavin onboard as lead game designer and art director, respectively. SJG has recently licensed RPGs from independent designers, such as Luke Jordan’s Grand Guignol and Caro Acersion’s Last Train to Bremen.
Steve Jackson Games also agreed to crowdfund and produce Dragon’s 7 Part Pact, a complex RPG of wizards governing an archipelago through baroque political systems and a tenuous balance of occult power. It recently earned over $1,000,000 from nearly 5,800 backers and is currently estimating a fulfillment and retail date of late 2027. SJG recently partnered with Lynnvander Studios to design Munchkin 5.5E RPG, which is exactly what it says on the tin. Expect a crowdfunding campaign via Backerkit next month.
While Jackson dutifully ran SJG with an eye towards transparency via his annual "report to stakeholders" blogs, the company has struggled to modernize at the same pace as the rest of the tabletop industry — both in its presentation and appeal to customers that generally lean either towards experimental independent designs or the traditional experiences offered by D&D, Pathfinder/Starfinder, and other D20 titles. Jackson was always a designer first and a business owner by necessity (a position with which I can empathize), so shifting the mantle to Gonzalez may allow the household name to return to initial passions.
